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An Oyster Bay street was renamed this weekend to honor iconoclastic war reporter and Oyster Bay native Marie Colvin.
Dozens of family and friends, together with local officials and community members, gathered Saturday for the ceremony that paid tribute to the late foreign correspondent and unveiled Marie Colvin Way. It was the fruition of an idea first proposed by Syosset High School student Sabrina Guo, 17, in February.
Guo, now a senior, worked with Nassau County legislators to develop and pass a bill that memorializes Colvin’s legacy by renaming a section of West Main Street.
“Marie was a life-long fighter for the freedom of the press—and for the pursuit of the truth,” read an Instagram post from Girl Pride International, a nonprofit that supports displaced, refugee and migrant girls. The group was founded by Guo in 2018, when she was 14.
Colvin, whose illustrious career spanned three decades, was covering and exposing wartime atrocities in Syria in 2012 when she was assassinated by the Syrian government. In 2001, she was struck by a blast from a Sri Lankan Army rocket-propelled grenade while reporting on civil war in Sri Lanka. She lost sight in her left eye and subsequently wore what became her trademark eyepatch while on assignment.
“Colvin exhibited remarkable bravery, tenacity, skill, and compassion as she exposed war crimes and humanitarian atrocities through her fearless reporting,” the Girl Pride International post continued. “In a time when foreign wars and the ensuing atrocities were not receiving nearly enough global attention, Colvin was a blazing light persevering in the name of truth and humanity; she kept burning until she ultimately lost her life in the line of duty.”
Guo was joined at the ceremony by town, state and county officials, as well as members of Colvin’s family.
“She always was my personal hero,” Cathleen Colvin said during the ceremony. “Marie was always incredibly passionate in her work. So talented (and) brilliant. But something you may not realize is that she was very humble.
“She always thought that if she could just write better and describe what she was seeing more clearly that people would read and care enough to make a difference,” Colvin added.
Top photo: Instagram/Girl Pride International
